NEWARK — If college students in New Jersey flood their parents with requests for help with tuition, mothers and fathers may have none other than Steve Lonegan to thank.

Lonegan, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Thursday urged students not to borrow money from the government to pay for college.

"Debt is the enemy of prosperity and should be avoided at all costs, even if this means working a job or two while being in school," he told readers of NJ.com, the online home of The Star-Ledger, during an online chat. "Hit up your parents for money before you borrow it from the government."

Lonegan, who ended up going into the kitchen cabinet business, said he worked in fast-food and retail stores to help pay his way through William Paterson College, although his mother helped him financially.

During the hour-long chat, Lonegan answered 19 questions on a wide array of issues.

A former mayor of Bogota and conservative activist, Lonegan is running against Newark Mayor Cory Booker, his Democratic opponent, in the Oct. 16 special election to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who died in June.

Exclusive interview: Steve Lonegan urges young people not to take on college loan debtRepublican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan stopped by the Star-Ledger's offices in Newark today for a live chat with NJ.com users and an interview with Star-Ledger reporter David Giambusso. Lonegan discussed the mounting debt crisis for college graduates. He explained how debt accumulated for college can "haunt you for the rest of your life." (Video by Adya Beasley and Andre Malok/The Star-Ledger)

"Mr. Lonegan’s suggestion that students ‘hit up’ their parents for college tuition underlines just how divorced he is from the reality that most New Jerseyans live," Kevin Griffis, a Booker spokesman, said. "There aren’t many parents who have an extra $20,000 lying around. New Jersey needs a leader in Washington like Cory Booker, someone who understands the challenges that middle-class families face every day."

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Yet on at least one issue, there is little distance between Lonegan and Booker. When asked whether he supported lifting the federal ban on marijuana, Lonegan barely hesitated before answering, "Yes."

While Booker has not gone as far as Lonegan, he said in August that he supported having a "national conversation" about decriminalizing marijuana, part of his platform to overhaul the criminal justice system.

Lonegan later said he thought it was up to states to decide whether recreational use of marijuana should be permitted. "It’s really a state’s rights issue," he said.

He also said he supported defunding the Affordable Care Act and giving future retirees the option of contributing to private investment accounts instead of a government-run system.

Exclusive interview: Steve Lonegan talks about running for Senate in a typically blue stateRepublican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan stopped by the Star-Ledger's offices in Newark today for a live chat with NJ.com users and an interview with Star-Ledger reporter David Giambusso. Lonegan expressed his views about running for Senate in a typically blue state. He went on to discuss his stance on Social Security. (Video by Adya Beasley and Andre Malok/The Star-Ledger)

The chat also touched on Gov. Chris Christie, who Lonegan unsuccessfully ran against for the Republican nomination for governor four years ago.

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Asked about Christie’s presidential prospects in 2016, Lonegan, who has campaigned with U.S. Sen Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — a potential 2016 rival of Christie — said the governor would be an "attractive candidate" with a "reasonable chance" of winning the Republican nomination.

"If nominated, he will defeat whoever the Democrats nominate, as will any Republican in the wake of the Obama assault on our economic prosperity, privacy and our health care," Lonegan wrote.

Nor did he shy away from what might have been the most controversial moment of his campaign: suggesting Booker may be "acting ambiguous" to appeal to the gay vote by getting late night pedicures, as opposed to his own preference for Scotch and cigars.

Asked what cigar he considered his favorite, Lonegan chose the Avo Classic.

"Works great with a good Lagavulin," he said, referring to a popular Scotch brand.